Now That's Service!

Yesterday was planned to be a simple quiet day spent in our local area.  We ran a few errands, and then returned to a car that would not start.  No, it was not the battery, but the starter.  As our van is 18 years old, finding parts for it is not easy.  One other problem: We needed it fixed before Wednesday as we were going camping over the Thanksgiving break.

I rejected the first garage's offer of 35,000 yen (about $400).  The second guy was too busy to get to it, but recommended Zakimi Auto Service.  I was apprehensive; it was getting late and tomorrow was Sunday.

Although it was now 4:30 in the evening, I was assured that my car would be fixed and ready by 6:00.  I was then offered a ride home, stopping first at the library to pick up my wife and kids.  At 5:59, my van was brought to my home; not only fixed, but vacuumed inside and washed outside.  Finally, they would not take any money from me, but requested that I stop by on Monday to settle.  It was just 10,000 yen, but I was reminded of one reason I love Japan-- incredible service!

Jesus taught His followers to "Love others as I have loved you" (John 13).  By doing this, "Others will know you are my followers."  If I could be so easily impressed with auto service, how much more could we impress others if we truly served them?  Just something to think about.

Walkathon

Well last Saturday was the walkathon.  A nice 17 km walk from the school to Zampa Point and back.

Emi with a classmate

Of course, that is a bit far for our girls (Emi is 6 and Mika 4).  However, the younger kids were allowed to take a bus halfway and walk back to the school. 

I expected to hear complaints and grumbling, but surprise, surprise the girls really enjoyed it!  In fact, they are ready for the next one.  They did great as did mom and dad and Debe's mom walked it as well.

Mika with her "Baba"

At the finish line were many games and booths-- like a carnival.  We also got to enjoy OCSI's famous fried chicken. 

Most importantly though, was the witness we were to the local community and our student's parents.

We made it!

All in all, it was not a bad way to spend a Saturday, as we also raised funds to improve the school.

Walkathon

It is time for the annual OCSI Walkathon.  This is our school's biggest fundraiser of the year.  It is a 17 kilometer walk from the school all the way to Cape Zampa.

The funds go to improve the school.  Last year we built a new kitchen.  The year before we were able to put projectors into each classroom.  This year's goal?  A/C!  Some rooms are already air conditioned, but some classes (like Dan's on the 3rd floor) are not.  It does get rather hot in the summer months, so this would definitely be a much appreciated improvement.

Well, we'll all be walking on November 12th.  Hope to see you there!

Sweet Potato Digging

Our school goes on an annual Sweet Potato Dig.  It is only for Kindergarten through 2nd grade, but both Emi and Mika got to go.

There were several varieties of sweet potatoes, including the Okinawan Beniimo.



They all had a great time, as we did eating them later!

GO Ministries

We are now partnered with GO! Ministries, who serves as our Mission Agency.  They will provide us with encouragement, accountability, prayer support and will accept donations on our behalf.

We would appreciate greatly your prayer or financial support.

Prayer goes to God...

Financial gifts can go through GO! Ministries, that way you get the tax deductible receipt.
Donations to GO! Ministries on our behalf can be done in the following ways:

• Checks: Should be made out to "Go Ministries".  Please write "1292” on the Memo line and they will get it to us.
• Paypal/Credit Card: Can be done through the GO! Ministries website (http://go.ccnorco.org/).  You can also set up an Automatic deposit this way.

All donations will have a tax deductible receipt sent to you from GO!

Thank you for your support!

OCSI

Well we have been settling in our new place in Yomitan (pics coming soon!) and have been quite busy getting ready for the new school year.  Much has happened, but without internet it has been difficult to post.

To sum up though, God has been so, so good to us.  We arrived with a few suitcases, but had no transportation, no furniture and no place to live.  We knew that we were where God led us, so we knew that He would meet our needs...eventually -- in His timing, of course.  Each day it seemed, God would bless us with one more thing.

Just one month later, we had an almost fully furnished apartment and vehicle provided.  God has been so good to us and we want to do our part to work with Him.

We are now serving with Okinawa Christian School International (OCSI) and it has been an incredible 2 weeks of orientation.  Again, to sum it up briefly, we were encouraged many times to remember our purpose as disciple-makers.

OCSI is a K3 - 12 Grade school with about 380 students.  Pray for us as we daily share God's love with them.

The Blessing by John Trent and Gary Smalley (Book Review)

We do not usually think of “blessing” someone as anything more than an impulsive gesture of goodwill or perhaps when they sneeze.  However, John Trent and Gary Smalley lay out in this book many reasons—both practical and spiritual, why we ought to intentionally bless our children.  

Drawing heavily from biblical passages where Patriarchs blessed their children, the authors lay out the reasons and the way that we should bless our own kids or even others that are in our life.  The “Blessing” does not just happen but it needs to be thought out and administered in a certain way to be effective.  This is not some mystical voodoo, but is simply a way of making sure your kids know for sure of your love and acceptance of who they are.  The five suggested steps are simple to accomplish, but again the authors stress being intentional about it.  It is too easy to “assume” that our offspring “know I love them.”

I found this book to be both interesting and helpful. I appreciated the many real life examples of people that received a blessing and empathized with those that did not.  One important point made is that it is never too late to receive a blessing, even later in life. 

This book was received from Thomas Nelson Press in exchange for an honest review.

The views expressed are my own and have not been influenced in any way.